The standard Ableton Live 11 will cost you $449USD. If you’re looking for something more comprehensive, you can purchase the Suite version for $749USD. If you don’t want to break the bank, Ableton Live 11 Lite is available for $99USD.
My experience with Ableton Standard
I’ve been making music for 15 years and never found a Digital Audio Workstation abbreviated DAW that matches the greatness of Ableton Live 11.
But before spending your hard-earned money, we need to know some things about DAWs in general.
Before life became all digital there were those 24track huge cassette machines, Analog effects that rely solely on analog devices. It was hard to mix and master with analog mixers and all those cables running in the studio that may create a mess if not properly coiled together.
At that time a mistake in a recording meant recording it all from the beginning to the end because we couldn’t modify or play with a wav format like modern computers
50 years ago you had a song and want to record it you can do nothing but go to a professional studio.
But now things have changed.
Now we are living in the era of DIGITAL which is the best step music made after progressive rock.
Small steps to DAW make huge leaps for producers.
Now we can use multiple DAWs on the same computer which has allowed essentially anybody to have the true power of music production at their fingertips.
We can manipulate sounds in ways the older musicians thought were impossible.
Now we have the moog synth which was invented in the 1970s and make it all digital on the computer in a bedroom studio.
Did I mention that there are so many DAWs out there with each having its own unique set of features?
Pros and Cons of Ableton
like the metric system, all DAWs are essential and have both pros and cons, but Ableton Live really crushes opponents in many ways:
- Ableton is built to perform, compose, or mix and master music
- Ableton has a session view
- Ableton has its own integration with alot of midi controllers that get mapped automatically
- It has arranger view to produce linear tracks
- It has a huge arsenal of instruments and drum sounds out of the box
- MIDI controllers were built for it
Let’s discuss each point in more detail, number one what do I mean by it’s built to perform and compose.
Because in session view you can arrange your clips of sound and then with a launchpad you start launching your wav and midi clips as you perform on stage.
You can arrange light effects to play with each note you press on your launchpad.
Ableton’s Session View
One notable feature of Ableton Live 11 is its session view that can be used for live performance and practice.
You can compose this way and your workflow will improve too, you focus more on creating music without touching your pc or mouse.
You need a launchpad variant and out of the box, you’ll find that it’s easy and intuitive.
Recommended Controllers for Ableton
You have the whole launchpad series, launchpad mini, launchpad pro, and launchpad x.
Also, you got the circuit from novation or maschine.
Wanna know more?
All midi keyboard controllers will integrate seamlessly with Ableton. Let me name a few that I tested myself. M-audio, Arturia, Akai, and Scarlet so you got a lot to think about before making a choice.
It has arranger view to produce linear tracks
Arranger view is similar to other DAWs you can use midi tracks, audio tracks, and automation tracks
You can drag and drop samples into the arranger view and you’ll have a finished song in under 10 minutes.
My workflow goes a little something like this:
Start a new project, start with the feeling that I try to express, play around with my midi controller keyboard to make the harmony of the track. Then come the drums and bass and all other small sounds and fx and I’ve finished in 10 minutes.
Instruments and Drums in Ableton Live 11
Ableton comes with a lot of plugins and sounds that will make you happy having them out of the box.
And if you want more you can get 3rd party plugins that are more than stars at night to reach a sound you truly love and to appreciate the speed that it takes to create a track.
The longer you stay dwelling around your project the more you’ll fall into the circle of perfectionism
What I advise is to make 10 minutes songs and come back tomorrow to listen and add a little bit more.
MIDI controllers were built for Ableton
As we mentioned earlier that choices are infinite but i recommend Push 2 which is a great controller with endless possibilities to perform on the stage and off stage at your home studio.
We love technology that made it easier to create music right out of our bedroom.
That’s why we’re lucky to be living in this world at this time.
Now you need to get the difference between the lite version and the suite version
You can buy any midi controller from novation and they’ll include a cd with some plugins and a serial number for Ableton lite.
You can play around with it till you get that urge to buy the full suite that offers more tracks, content, better handling of the latency issue.
What else does the doctor say for you to get started and make music?
A good bundle of sound cards, headphones for monitoring, and a mic to record instruments and voices.
I can recommend the Focusrite Scarlett sound card which comes with a very nice condenser mic and monitoring headphones.
I’ve used many sound cards and the main thing to worry about when choosing a sound card is latency.
How low is the latency that the card provides?
When it’s below 24 milliseconds it’s okay and can be neglected but if it’s higher try using ASIO drivers to make things better for you and so that you don’t suffer much from it when recording your favorite band in your garage